Furthering the company’s development as a whole and developing the dancers as individual artists is the basis of her programming selections for next season.

“I was lucky in my career there was always something to look forward to, to work toward,” said Barker, who was a principal dancer for much of her 26-year career at Pacific Northwest Ballet. “That’s why I like to provide this to my dancers.”

GRBC’s “Movemedia” series returns next month, but Barker is planning to return next season with two different but related programs set a month apart.

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa will be artist-in-residence for the third season of “Movemedia.”

Grand Rapids Ballet has danced several works now by Balanchine, including “Who Cares?” in February and his “The Four Temperaments,” which you can see this weekend in GRBC’s Wege Theatre.

“Each time I’ve brought a work, I’ve thought it was a stretch,” Barker said. “And then they’ve stepped up.”